Episode 92 of Dragon Ball, first broadcast in Japan on December 16, 1987 and known in the English dub as Goku Enters the Ring, finally puts Goku in the ring for the last quarterfinal. His opponent is Pamput, an unbeaten champion and action movie star. The fight lasts a few seconds. The hard part for Goku is getting there, because the champion's manager has a plan to have him disqualified by default.
Summary
At a restaurant near the tournament, Goku wolfs down a mountain of food while his friends look on in disbelief: his match is two hours away. Roshi explains who the opponent is. Pamput burst onto the scene just a year ago, has already won several tournaments and is a film star on top of that. Bulma is a fan, and Oolong threatens to tell Yamcha.
In a luxury hotel suite, Pamput trains surrounded by fans and is already planning his victory party. His manager is less relaxed: he has studied Goku and knows he is no ordinary kid. His fears are confirmed when he spies on an impromptu workout. To impress three young women, Roshi spars with his students in practice gloves, and Goku moves so fast the spectators can't follow him; when the master gets distracted by a compliment, the boy even lands a punch. The manager realizes this is the kid who wiped out the Red Ribbon Army.
While Goku goes for a pre-match jog, a car pulls up beside him: the manager says the tournament has been moved and offers him a ride. Goku gets in. Launch, standing in line to buy him an ice cream, sees it all, borrows a spectator's motorcycle, handing him the cone in exchange, and gives chase. In her blonde form she corners the car in a dead end, knocks out the bodyguards and uncovers the trick: Goku has to run back right away. A moment later she sneezes, turns sweet again and has no idea what is going on.
At the arena Pamput makes his entrance leaping down from the roof, just as the announcer is about to declare a win by default. Goku makes it at the last instant, running across the roofs of cars. Pamput shows off by smashing a freshly repaired wall, then promises to finish him in thirty seconds. At the bell he charges, but Goku blocks and drives his elbow into his side three times. Pamput drops. From the sidelines Tien Shinhan watches, pleased: Goku is the opponent he was hoping for.
Our take
This is a light episode, almost a breather after Tien's brutality against Yamcha and the Crane School's threats, and that's fine. The first half is pure filler, but filler with a clear idea: showing how far Goku has outgrown "normal" fighters, even famous, winning ones.
Pamput is the perfect character for the job. He is the champion everyone knows, the one on posters and in movies; Goku is a kid with a tail who arrives running at the last second. That a single moment settles it says everything about the leap made by Roshi's and the Crane Hermit's students. The real tournament is being played on another level.
Launch, torn between her two personalities, steals the show: she is the only one who notices the kidnapping, and only because she wanted to bring Goku an ice cream.
Trivia
- Half of the episode is original; the rest adapts chapter 122 of the manga. It drew a 19.4% ratings share in Japan.
- Pamput's manager doesn't exist in the manga, and neither does the plot to keep Goku away from the ring. In the manga Goku is already at the arena and is never at risk of disqualification.
- In the manga Bulma and Puar don't watch the match because they are at the hospital with Yamcha.
- The car the manager uses to take Goku away is a Mercedes.
Did you know? In the manga Pamput simply jumps into the ring from behind the waiting area. The anime gives him a grand entrance from the roof, wrapped in a robe.
Characters
- Goku
- Pamput
- Launch
- Master Roshi
- Krillin
- Tien Shinhan